American Classics Worth Watching

We are not in the business of forecasting. What follows is simply a description of where we see genuine demand outpacing the supply of good examples, based on what we are asked for and what we struggle to find.

Square body Chevrolet and Ford Bullnose trucks

The 1973 to 1987 Chevrolet has already moved, but the gap between an average truck and a rust free, short bed, correctly specified one keeps widening. The equivalent Ford, the 1980 to 1986 F series, remains noticeably behind and is beginning to attract the same buyers for the same reasons. Both are simple, well supported and comfortable to use.

Full size two door wagons and utilities

K5 Blazers and Jimmys with removable tops have followed the Bronco upward, but the full size Suburban and the earlier Travelall have not. They are large for British roads, which limits demand here, though for anybody with the space they represent an enormous amount of presence for the money.

The unfashionable muscle era cars

Attention concentrates on the obvious names, which leaves the middle of the range quietly undervalued. Mid trim Mustangs, El Caminos, Rancheros and the second tier intermediates from Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick offer much of the character of the headline cars at a fraction of the outlay. Good original examples are increasingly hard to find precisely because nobody thought them worth preserving.

Early nineties survivors

Vehicles from the late 1980s and early 1990s are now entering the historic window in rolling fashion, and the ones with genuinely low mileage and complete history are being noticed. The pattern here matches every previous generation: the market ignores them until it does not, and by then the unmodified examples have gone.

In every category, the story is the same. Demand rises for the model, then narrows to the few good examples of it.

What we would say to a buyer

Condition, originality and specification have outperformed model selection consistently for as long as we have watched this market. Choosing the right model and then buying a mediocre example of it rarely works. Choosing a slightly less fashionable model and buying the best one available almost always does. That is the observation we would stand behind, and it is the principle behind everything we present.